Aerial glider toy



April 19, 1966 c. E. MILLER AERIAL GLIDER TOY Filed Dec. 17, 1962 INVENTOR. (ariiozz fi il/Zer BY United States Patent 3,246,425 AERIAL GLIDER TOY Carlton E. Miller, 30 Kirkham St., Branford, Conn. Filed Dec. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 245,108 1 Claim. (Cl. 46-79) This invention relates to aerial toys and in particular to a glider.

One object is to provide a glider which is inherently more stable in flight and which has more structural ruggedness than conventional toy gliders.

Another object is to provide an improved toy glider which is capable of slower flight than aircraft of this type heretofore known and which is so constructed that the main airfoil is at the most advantageous angle possible during flight.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy glider capable of adjustments to perform various predetermined flights.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy glider of shape and of light weight material which is yet strong enough to resist dam-age to itself when apprehended in flight or when it strikes a resistance such as in landing.

Yet another object is to construct a toy glider of such material as to prevent damage to an object which it might accidently strike while in flight.

Still another object is to provide an attractive unitary structure capable of being molded in one piece.

Still another object is to construct a glider of material and with aerodynamic elements which will orbit about the normal childrens playroom and return to the point of launching.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claim, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the glider;

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal elevation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the complete glider; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing one means of adjustment for flight control.

With reference to the drawing, the glider is illustrated generally by the reference character 10. The main wing 11 or airfoil is of the delta type with a leading edge sweepback of approximately sixty degrees. The wing pinions 12 are rounded off smoothly at their tips 13 to reduce resistance due to the spilling action of the air at the tips and weight.

A pair of spaced fins 14 acting as vertical stabilizers and rudders surmount the airfoil 11 beginning at the leading edge 12a of the airfoil 11 and continuing parallel to the longitudinal axis 15 of the glider 10, to terminate with the trailing edge of the airfoil 11 at point 16 as clearly shown in FIG. 1.

In the preferred form the airfoil 11 has a cut away portion 17 between the fins 14 which serves to provide a linear trailing edge 17a set forward and protected by the fins 14 at each end 17b thereof. It will therefore be noted that the air stream flowing in the channel 18 between the fins 14 and across the trailing edge 17a will not spill sidewise due to the extension 14a of the fins 14 beyond the trailing edge 17a and hence the trailing edge 17a will be free of turbulence. While the cut away portion 17 serves to reduce the weight of the glider 10, the trailing edge 17a may be located in another embodiment as clearly shown by the broken line 170 in FIG. 1, but in so doing the weight distribution of the glider may require corresponding adjustment.

The numeral 19 denotes a fuselage forwardly depending from the wing 11 along the longitudinal axis 15 which tends to lower the center of gravity of the glider 10 to increase the stability thereof. The numeral'20 denotes an upward protrusion from the fuselage 19 representing a cockpit and cover thereof.

In the lower part of the fuselage 19 is a centrally lo-' cated vertical slot 21 parallel to longitudinal axis 15v and containing the vertical axis (described later) for re-,

a convenient finger hold or launching element for the person to hold the glider 10 for launching purposes.

The structure as just described and clearly shown in FIGURES 1 through 4 is readily adapted to the process of molding which is the preferred form of construction using polystyrene although other plastic materials may be used for this purpose. I do not limit myself to molding, however, as other light weight materials may, be used such as wood, sheet metal, paper base material or the like. In the preferred form I use expanded polystyrene of a density corresponding to 1 to 1 /2 lbs. per cubic foot which produces an extremely light weight structure of the necessary strength and resilience to withstand shocks and at the same time permit slight deformations of certain members to meet desired aerodynamic conditions.

Stability is the capacity of an airplane to overcome any tendency to displace or turn from normal flight. In a glider type of airplane, its shape, proportion and weight distribution result in its inherent stability. An airplane operates in three dimensions requiring stability about three different axes all of which are considered to pass through the center of gravity of the airplane. These three axes comprise (1) the longitudinal axis from front to rear, parallel to normal flight; (2) the vertical axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and parallel to the force of gravity when in normal flight; and (3) the lateral axis perpendicular to the vertical and longitudinal axis.

Lateral stability is provided by the vertical fins 14 and the side walls of the fuselage 19 and cover 20 which resist rotation about the longitudinal axis. These surfaces also resist side slip. The wing surface of the sweepback of the delta wing 11 will right the plane when laterally unbalanced. Also in conjunction with the delta wing is the low center of gravity attributed to the fuselage 19 which materially aids lateral stability.

By locating the weight 22 at the lower edge of the slot 21 in the fuselage 19 the center of gravity of the glider is thus rendered very low.

Directional stability is the tendency of the airplane to resist displacement about the vertical axis. This is accomplished by the fins 14 which also act as fixed rudders. Thus it will be noted that the fins 14 serve the multipurpose of maintaining lateral and directional stability.

By moving the weight 22 in the slot 21 forward or backward the desired longitudnial balance of the glider may be adjusted.

The trailing edge 17a may be adjusted up or down by bending the adjacent material of the wing 11 to give to the glider 10 the necessary longitudinal stability and direction as for example by grasping the wing member 11 between thumb and forefinger as shown in FIG. 5. Other controlling elements of the glider 10 may be ad- Patented Apr. .19, 1966.

of attack is negative so that relative to the wing 11 the trailing edge turns upward approximately three degrees.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangements of parts may be resorted to without departing' from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention: A A toy glider comprising a moulded integral unitary structure of expanded polystyrene having a density of between 1 and 1 /2 pounds per cubic foot, a delta wing, a portion depending from said wing defining an integrally depending fuselage, the lateral tips of said wing rounded off forming trailing edges, a pair of spaced vertical fins mounted on said wing extending respectively from the leading edges of said wing to said rounded off portions of the trailing edges of said wing, the trailing edge of said wing between said fins having a continuous linear upturned trailing edge transverse to the longitudinal axis of said glider, said wing having parallel plane top and bottom surfaces defining a uniform cross section and minimum mouldable thickness of such strength and rigidity as Will enable said wing to support without deflection thereof the Weight of said glider in flight and will resist deformation upon impact with another surface yet be manually bendable along said linear trailing edge to permit fixed minor aerodynamic adjustrnents.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 927,815 7/1909 Ruppin 4679 2,687,262 8/1954 Custer 244- X 2,767,436 10/ 1956 Noland et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 643,205 9/ 1950 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Pe alspan Expandable Polystyrene, Catalog 171-90 of Dow Chemical Co.,.February 1958, Fig. 31 relied on.

Playthings, April 1960, page 89 relied on.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. 

